Microsoft may be upgrading the specs of the Xbox One before its release

By James Plafke on July 12, 2013 at 11:53 am

The Xbox One reveal was so disappointing that it’ll likely go down in history as one of the gaming industry’s most memorable high-profile blunders. Microsoft’s decision to revise its mistakes will also likely go down in gaming history as unprecedented. Now, in what may end up another unprecedented move, Microsoft might be revising the Xbox One’s hardware before it even releases.

For the uninitiated, Microsoft took a few enormous missteps when it announced the Xbox One. The new console would be bogged down by always-online DRM, a mandatory Kinect that is always watching, listening, and can see in the dark, a system to curb the sale of used games, and the same Xbox Gold paywall that currently plagues the Xbox 360. On top of all that, it turned out the Xbox One’s hardware wasn’t all too impressive when compared to its main competitor, the PS4 — and it would cost $100 more than Sony’s more powerful, not-bogged-down-at-all console. After a couple months of standing staunchly against almost everyone’s wishes to knock it off with these restrictions, Microsoft finally caved and removed the always-on DRM and the used games restrictions. So, the Xbox One would no longer have draconian restrictions, but still suffered from the problem of being an underpowered, more expensive console than its competitor.

Consoles don’t usually go through major hardware horsepower revisions during their lifecycle — they generally just lose some weight and use your power more efficiently. It’s also extremely rare for a console to undergo a hardware revision after its official announcement. After Microsoft relented and gave up on its dream of a locked-down, heavily restricted console, reports are suggesting that Microsoft will now give up on its hardware dream before the console even releases, and change its specs in order to not only better compete with Sony, but to better justify that $500 price tag.

The Examiner is reporting that a source claims the Xbox One’s GPU will get a bump in clock speed, and the 8GB of DDR3 RAM will increase to 12GB. Additionally, the Xbone development team is asking designers what other changes to the console they’d like to see — which comes off as a little desperate, especially considering the hardware is supposed to release in around four months.

The RAM rumor seems to have originated from the Xbox One dev kits shipping with 12GB of RAM. However, the source claims that the retail kits do not pack that much RAM. The source also notes that the clock speed increase is the result of Microsoft “giving off the impression” that this took place.

While it may seem very odd for high-profile hardware to backtrack on its announced specs only a few months before its release, we wouldn’t be surprised by anything Microsoft does with the Xbox One anymore. Whether it’s a power boost, a price cut before release, or finally removing the Xbox Gold paywall, Microsoft still needs to clean up its image ever since it got tarnished from the console reveal. If there’s one thing Microsoft will surely retain, though, it’s that you can bet your Xbox One will have a lot of games that feature marines.

Okay, so compared to the PS4 they both have identical AMD Jaguar 8-core cpu's ( APU officially ) running at 1.6 Ghz. Both have 8 GB of ram ( unless M$ bumps it to 12 GB as rumoured above ) but Sony's is faster, GDDR5 vs slower regular DDR-3 ram on the Xbone. Yes, the Xbone does have a large fast sram cache to help the i/o, but we still have GDDR5 memory vs DDR-3 here ...PS4 has the edge of course. The PS4 has a better gpu as well, Radeon HD 7870 class versus the XBone's HD 7790 class gpu.

So the real price difference between these consoles is $40 or so once you factor in the price of the optional Sony Camera...

How can Xbone justify the higher price here?

Simple, ram is relatively cheap ( DDR-3 ) so give it 12 GB instead of 8 GB... most Console owners are fairly "non-technical" ( not all, but quite a few are, having worked for Xbox Live call center years ago I can confirm this as fact! ) , and BIG numbers impress them! So even though the actual performance benefits of bumping the ram up to 12 GB won't be that great/noticeable, the fact you just added 50% more ram and can advertise that fact will be a HUGE marketing factor for XBone here ( can brag their console has more ram than PS4 ).

Second, they are increasing the speed of their gpu. It is a shame they did not go with the exact same gpu design as the PS4 ( HD 7870 class gpu ), but went with smaller, slower, cheaper HD 7790 class gpu ( not a bad gpu, but this console is supposed to last many years, so you should go with a SOLID midrange gpu like Sony did, not the lower-midrange cheapass gpu that Xbone currently has ). Since M$ can't or won't change gpu design at this stage of the game ( it would be KILLER if they upgraded the gpu to the same one ( or slightly better ) than the one the PS4 will be using!! Doubt this will happen though...sadly...) then all they can do is overclock their existing gpu design. Fair enough, this is better than nothing and cost M$ nothing to do it ( unless better cooling is required for overclocked gpu, then miniscule amount per console for a better cooling solution to achieve this ).

M$ has learned NOTHING from Apple... I always laugh when I see iPhone/Ipod etc. pricing advertised. The ONLY difference between the different models is the size of the storage, the onboard internal Flash memory ranges from: 16 GB, 32 GB, to 64 GB with $100 price jumps between each model... there is NO way that simply doubling the size of the internal Flash storage from 16 GB to 32 GB costs Apple $100 or anywhere near that amount...outrageous!! Yet people are more than happy to pay it!! Why? Cuz they have no alternative from Apple, if they want more storage, they have to PAY for it, and very dearly too, but they still do it!!! ...people are damn lazy and want it handed to them on a silver platter and most are willing to pay gouging fees to achieve that ( Apple customers for example ).

Storage and SIM

An iPhone 3G with the SIM slot open. The SIM ejector tool is still placed in the eject hole.The iPhone was initially released with two options for internal storage size: 4 GB or 8 GB. On September 5, 2007, Apple discontinued the 4 GB models.[135] On February 5, 2008, Apple added a 16 GB model.[136] The iPhone 3G was available in 16 GB and 8 GB. The iPhone 3GS came in 16 GB and 32 GB variants and remained available in 8 GB until September 2012, more than three years after its launch.

The iPhone 4 is available in 16 GB and 32 GB variants, as well as an 8 GB variant to be sold alongside the iPhone 4S at a reduced price point. The iPhone 4S is available in three sizes: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB. All data is stored on the internal flash drive; the iPhone does not support expanded storage through a memory card slot, or the SIM card. The iPhone 5 is available in the same three sizes previously available to the iPhone 4S: 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB.

So what M$ should be doing is offering a few more expensive versions of the Xbone... Say for example, how about an SSD as an upper-tier option??!!

The Xbone comes with standard 500 GB hard disk drive , but, people want more storage space than that ( since it is a "Media Center" pc basically, not just a "game console" ). Many voided their 360 warranties by installing their own larger capacity hdd's...so instead of forcing people to do that to get more storage space, why not milk it and charge them for more capacity??? Worked for Apple, will work for M$ too... I know that the Xbone has a USB 3.0 port, so people can buy External USB hdd's and connect them using that port, but some people do not want an extra clunky hdd enclosure cluttering up their living room space, they want it internal...all in one box...simple...

There IS a market for this sort of thing, lots of people are willing to spend a little extra for a console that has more storage space OR a fast SSD in it...and M$ could milk this all the way to the bank, just like Apple does with their products...

Don't just offer a SINGLE option ( one size fits all concept ) with your console, give the customers CHOICES!! Sony does with their optional $60 Camera, why can't M$ do something similar with their storage options!!!???

The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least. No good deed goes unpunished...

However, they ( Xbone development team ) are apparently asking for input from the public on how to make their box better, so if they follow my suggestions then they will have lots of happy customers, and also make a fat profit off the thing at the same time. Offer a range of consoles at different price points, could really make a difference to their bottom line.

The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least. No good deed goes unpunished...

MS is desperate it seems, and for good reason. Still I will buy a PS4 if I will ever buy a console...

M$ has learned NOTHING from Apple... I always laugh when I see iPhone/Ipod etc. pricing advertised. The ONLY difference between the different models is the size of the storage, the onboard internal Flash memory ranges from: 16 GB, 32 GB, to 64 GB with $100 price jumps between each model... there is NO way that simply doubling the size of the internal Flash storage from 16 GB to 32 GB costs Apple $100 or anywhere near that amount...outrageous!! Yet people are more than happy to pay it!! Why? Cuz they have no alternative from Apple, if they want more storage, they have to PAY for it, and very dearly too, but they still do it!!! ...people are damn lazy and want it handed to them on a silver platter and most are willing to pay gouging fees to achieve that ( Apple customers for example ).

This. Oh, couldn't agree more. While I love my wife's iPhone 4 it has been already 3 years and Apple did NOTHING to improve the phone. Bumping some specs and make him a little longer doesn't count since the design and usage is exactly the same. And this year iPhone will be the same, a complete garbage knock off.

M$ has the advantage of a huge existing customer base ( Xbox Live and 360 of course ), so all they really have to do is "match" or come close to the PS4 ( in terms of hw ) and they will do okay with the new Xbone... but if they want to crush the PS4 they have to "up" the hw ( as mentioned above ) and offer a range of consoles, with different options at different price points...that way nobody is "locked" out due to high price, but those who can afford the bells and whistles can buy the more expensive models, and they will, just like Apple fans do...

What I am really excited about is that Sony chose to use hw that is nearly identical to Xbone, this levels the playing field for game developers, makes it very easy to design "universal" games that will play great on either console with little to no porting required ( unlike the PS3 with its weird "Cell" architecture that took developers years to "grasp" and optimize for...no more...GOOD!!! ). This is win-win for everyone in the end.

The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least. No good deed goes unpunished...

There is no way anyone except MS knows how much the Kinect costs, and there is also no way it costs as much as the console. Unless someone has more information, I'm highly skeptical of that claim.

It's not the penguins I hate, so much as the idea of penguins.“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” - Stephen Hawking

Hammer_Time wrote:What I am really excited about is that Sony chose to use hw that is nearly identical to Xbone, this levels the playing field for game developers, makes it very easy to design "universal" games that will play great on either console with little to no porting required ( unlike the PS3 with its weird "Cell" architecture that took developers years to "grasp" and optimize for...no more...GOOD!!! ). This is win-win for everyone in the end.

Agreed.

We never think of us as being one of Them. We are always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

Fuzz wrote:There is no way anyone except MS knows how much the Kinect costs, and there is also no way it costs as much as the console. Unless someone has more information, I'm highly skeptical of that claim.

No mentioning of a source, so....it may have been a guess.

We never think of us as being one of Them. We are always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

Fuzz wrote:There is no way anyone except MS knows how much the Kinect costs, and there is also no way it costs as much as the console. Unless someone has more information, I'm highly skeptical of that claim.

Well, IR sensors are very expensive once you go beyond the very simple stuff, and since it´s supposed to be able of doing quite a lot, this aint simple stuff.

Only way to do it cheaply would be by using tech that requires serious constant cooling.And we´re not talking regular PC level cooling, but keeping the sensor at below -50C at least...

Not saying anything about wether it´s correct or not, just that i would not at all be surprised if the price claim IS correct.

This has been an objective and completely impartial message from the propaganda bureau of DIREWOLF75. Thank you for reading. Have a nice day.

Well, the PS4 has basically the same hardware as the Xbox so the math just doesn't work for Kinect to be half the cost.

MS is dumb, but they aren't dumb enough to make a peripheral that costs as much as a CPU, GPU, RAM, Blu Ray Drive, Motherboard, and Hard Drive. Especially since they know deep down gamers don't really give a rats ass about it. Not a chance.

It's not the penguins I hate, so much as the idea of penguins.“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” - Stephen Hawking

Fuzz wrote:Well, the PS4 has basically the same hardware as the Xbox so the math just doesn't work for Kinect to be half the cost.

MS is dumb, but they aren't dumb enough to make a peripheral that costs as much as a CPU, GPU, RAM, Blu Ray Drive, Motherboard, and Hard Drive. Especially since they know deep down gamers don't really give a rats ass about it. Not a chance.

Don´t you know that the stupidity of MS is infinite?

This has been an objective and completely impartial message from the propaganda bureau of DIREWOLF75. Thank you for reading. Have a nice day.

Fuzz wrote:Well, the PS4 has basically the same hardware as the Xbox so the math just doesn't work for Kinect to be half the cost.

MS is dumb, but they aren't dumb enough to make a peripheral that costs as much as a CPU, GPU, RAM, Blu Ray Drive, Motherboard, and Hard Drive. Especially since they know deep down gamers don't really give a rats ass about it. Not a chance.

What you are doing is focusing on "hardcore games" and on how it is played currently comfortably. What you need to do to realize the value of Kinect is look at games like "Dance Central" or imagine FPS games that can actually track user movement and aims accurately. There is so much R&D going into Kinect to be able to do real-time and efficient analysis of the users movement. The rest of the parts have either their R&D cost taken care of or has negligible amount charged for it due to mass distribution.

Then there is the use for research factor of Kinect that many researchers are picking it up for.

What I have come to realize is that M$ is not dumb but rather tries to attend to such a huge market of possibilities and that's why they are either slow to react, have a bit higher initial costs and not a master in just one factor. Just look at Xbox One and the features it has. It definitely is trying really hard to replace STB [set top boxes], HTPC and game box at home with just one product whereas Sony only sort of addresses last 2 boxes. Usually M$ strategy is risky but if successful then it clutches onto the user base really hard - Windows, Office, Visio, Xbox, ... Unlike Apple's product where it is the FUD and cool factor that has capture majority of the users, not the usability.

PS I am not a pro-xbox or PS - i don't own either company's consoles, and the wii that i have has been collecting dust for past few years. I probably am a pro-M$ and anti-Apple though given that I root for flexibility rather than looking cool factors.

My money are on Ballmer. This guy is on collision course with MS. You can only make those decisions if you want to bankrupt MS, otherwise there are no explanations for his stubbornness and stupidity...

Not just Ballmer, the head of the Xbox division recently left and was replaced, it was his "vision" for the Xbone all-in-one digital-only and DRM concept that got hammered. Ballmer just goes ahead with what his division managers tell him since he assumes they know better than him and he has to trust their judgement at the time. I am no fan of Ballmer but it is not "all his fault" , partly yes, but not all...

Zynga has confirmed that Don Mattrick is no longer Microsoft's head of the Interactive Entertainment Business, and has been appointed chief executive at the social games firm, effective July 8, 2013.

Zynga's founding chief executive officer Mark Pincus will remain Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Product Officer of the company. This confirmed a WJS report earlier today.

In an official statement, Pincus said, "Don is unique in the game business. He turned Xbox into the world's largest console-gaming network, growing its installed base from 10 to 80 million and transformed that business from deep losses to substantial profits. And he has grown the Xbox Live player network from 6 to 50 million active members in 41 countries. Going forward, I'll continue in my role as Chairman and Chief Product Officer. I'm excited to partner with Don and the rest of our team to return Zynga to its leadership role in inventing and growing Play as a core human experience."

Mattrick commented, "I joined Zynga because I believe that Mark's pioneering vision and mission to connect the world through games is just getting started. Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full potential. I'm proud to partner with Mark to deliver high-quality, fun, social games wherever people want to play."

Reports say Mattrick resigned from Microsoft, although it's yet to be officially disclosed under what terms the exec departed from the Xbox firm.

In an internal email sent by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, shared online via official Microsoft channels, he confirmed that the company has no immediate replacement to take over Mattrick's former post and, at least for the time being, his directs will report directly Ballmer himself.

"This is a great opportunity for Don, and I wish him success," said Ballmer in the email. "I am incredibly proud of the work and vision culminating in Xbox One. I'm particularly excited about how Xbox pushes forward our devices and services transformation by bringing together the best of Microsoft," he added.

Mattrick made himself the global face of the Xbox One project, being the first executive to introduce the system at Microsoft's Redmond campus in May, and the man who officially announced the dramatic Xbox One DRM policy reversal - a move which undermined many of the console's core features that Mattrick and his team spent years building.

In the days leading up to Microsoft's DRM u-turn, Mattrick had battled to justify the system, maintaining that Microsoft had made a "good choice" in creating a "natively connected device" despite a widespread consumer backlash over the console's online requirements.

Mattrick's move to the struggling social games firm Zynga represents a major shake-up for the business that recently announced large-scale redundancies and studio closures in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

This came after Zynga confirmed the closure of its Japan-based studio on January 31, following the departure of several major executives including its second-in-command John Schappert, who resigned in August 2012

Mark Pincus had struggled with the firm's misfortunes, following continued losses of over $209 million in 2012, and over $404 million in 2011.

Mattrick's departure comes several months ahead of the global launch of Microsoft's third major games console.

The exec joined Microsoft in 2007, taking control of the company's Xbox business almost two years into the 2005-released Xbox 360's lifespan, overseeing the console's transition to a more multimedia-centric device and the launch of the family-oriented Kinect motion controller.

Mattrick started his career in games in 1982 when he co-founded development studio Distinctive Software, and created the long-running racing game series Test Drive.

Distinctive Software was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991, where Mattrick would go on to serve as the president of Worldwide Studios. He retired from EA in 2006, before formally joining Microsoft in 2007 as SVP of the Entertainment and Devices Division.

Important to note that he was not fired, he quit to make more money at Zynga and take his talent there...

I am surprised that Ballmer took this deep restructuring move, it bodes well for the company, but time will tell:

Microsoft is planning to reinstate key digital features of the Xbox One console, a senior executive has claimed. In an interview with US game site IGN, chief product officer Marc Whitten hinted that the promising "Family Sharing" feature, which would allow Xbox One owners to share their digital games with up to 10 friends, could make a return after the machine's launch.

The concept was removed in June when Microsoft reversed on its initial plans to make the new console effectively a digital-first machine, complete with daily user authentication and a limit on physical used-game sales. Since then, however, insiders have been questioning Microsoft's decision to throw out all of its new digital features. An online petition has been started by Xbox fans, requesting that the company reverts to its original plan – especially the "Family Sharing" mode.

Responding to the petition, Whitten said that although there was no "road map" to reintroduce the function, it was a distinct possibility. "If it's something that people are really excited about and want, we're going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back," he said. "A 'road map' sort of implies more like 'on date X it's back' than I think exists, but we believe really strongly in how you build a great experience on Xbox One for me as an individual, but also for my family. Family Sharing is a great example of how you do that with content. I think you're going to see us, both with examples like that and with other things, keep pushing on how that's something great. An example is some of the stuff we're doing with what we announced around Gold, where other people in the house get the advantages of Gold when I'm a Gold member. You're going to see us continue to push in those areas."

After the new console was revealed in May, Microsoft failed to answer questions about how pre-owned game sales and offline play would be affected by its digital rights management, authentication and digital distribution plans. An online backlash grew over the following weeks culminating in Sony's combative E3 press conference, in which the PlayStation manufacturer assured viewers that pre-owned game sales would be fine on PS4, and that no DRM would restrict offline play. A week later, then-Xbox chief Don Mattrick released an online statement rescinding most of the digital planning for Xbox One, including the Family Sharing function.

At the time, the removal of several more attractive features was criticised by some pundits who claimed Microsoft was throwing its digital toys out of the pram. Whitten denies this, claiming that, to facilitate offline play and a pre-owned market, the company had to redirect resources. "To add it to the program, we had to make room, just from a pure engineering perspective, to be able to get that work done. So taking Family Sharing out of the launch window was not about 'we're going to take our toys and go home' or something like that. It was just sort of the logistics of 'how do we get this very, very clear request that people really want, that choice, and how do we make sure we can do an excellent job of that, get to launch, and then be able to build a bunch of great features?'"

Since the reversal in June, Mattrick has left to join social gaming company Zynga, and Microsoft has shaken up its corporate structure, promoting Julie Larson-Green from Windows to the head of the entire hardware division. Gamers and industry insiders will be watching carefully to see how she adapts the Xbox One proposition from here. Originally, alongside the family sharing concept, it was hinted that the machine would also allow the resale of downloaded titles, bringing a second-hand sales market to the digital model. If Larson-Green wanted to make a positive impression before the launch of the Xbox One and PS4 later this year, bringing both of these features back into the mix may well be a smart manoeuvre.

The Family Sharing feature is a Fantastic idea, and M$ would be very smart to include it in the Xbone launch!!! One can hope...

WAIT A MINUTE!! There are huge CAVEATS to the "Family Sharing" Feature:

The premise is simple and elegant, when you buy your games for Xbox One, you can set any of them to be part of your shared library. Anyone who you deem to be family had access to these games regardless of where they are in the world. There was never any catch to that, they didn't have to share the same billing address or physical address it could be anyone. When your family member accesses any of your games, they're placed into a special demo mode. This demo mode in most cases would be the full game with a 15-45 minute timer and in some cases an hour. This allowed the person to play the game, get familiar with it then make a purchase if they wanted to. When the time limit was up they would automatically be prompted to the Marketplace so that they may order it if liked the game. We were toying around with a limit on the number of times members could access the shared game (as to discourage gamers from simply beating the game by doing multiple playthroughs). but we had not settled on an appropriate way of handling it. One thing we knew is that we wanted the experience to be seamless for both the person sharing and the family member benefiting. There weren't many models of this system already in the wild other than Sony's horrendous game sharing implementation, but it was clear their approach (if one could call it that) was not the way to go. Developers complained about the lost sales and gamers complained about overbearing DRM that punished those who didn't share that implemented by publishers to quell gamers from taking advantage of a poorly thought out system. We wanted our family sharing plan to be something that was talked about and genuinely enjoyed by the masses as a way of inciting gamers to try new games.

Spencer: The other thing I would [point to] is my family and their ability to have access to that content.

Kotaku: The 10-people thing, right?

Spencer: Yeah, that's right.

Kotaku: And who can be in this family? Anybody? Can we be in the same family?

Spencer: Yeah.

Kotaku: What would be the limitation on that? Because it seems like that would be the way to get around this stuff, to just make my nine friends family.

Spencer: We think that's the advantage. Now, the family-sharing... go through the documents and the post. This is why you have to have the other side of the kind of nuts and bolts about how the policy works. But I do think that sharing in a family group is an important part of the positives in our ecosystem. When I buy songs, MP3 files and I put them on a server, my daughters can also listen to those songs. They have access to them. Think about our library of content...it is something that we want to be sharing. You don't have to send in your birth certificate. You define what a family unit is and the people who connect to you and how that library works. Your family has access to that library.

Kotaku: So I could buy an Xbox One game and by putting you in my family you could therefore not have to buy it. The restriction would be that only one of us could be playing it at a time? Or do I get rights because I'm the head of household to play no matter what?

Spencer: So, you should go and read the...

Kotaku: When I read it, it read as if the person who sets it up always could play their games...

Spencer: That's right.

Kotaku: ... because it says you have access to games at at any time, but that members of family can only play...

Spencer: That's right.

Kotaku: So I'm understanding it correctly?

Spencer: You're understanding it correctly.

Kotaku: At most, two people will be able to play at any one time.

Spencer: The concurrency, yes.

Kotaku: And I think that's one of the one where people go, 'Oh, that's a nice thing.'

Spencer: I think so as well. Well, it's not really about what I think.

So this "Family Sharing" is not as awesome as it first sounded.

You can add up to "10 Family Members" but ONLY TWO OF YOU CAN PLAY THE GAME AT THE SAME TIME!! The owner of the game, plus only one other Family Member.

Worse, the game is limited to just 15 or 60 minutes max!! ( Demo ) Then it takes you to Xbox Live Marketplace to prompt you to buy the game...

So there is no way that all ten of your family members will be playing the same game that you just bought , for free, indefinitely...

This is simply a "Demo" mode feature to let other people try out the game. This makes much more sense from a business standpoint , hook more gamers by letting them try the game out briefly, then hopefully they will buy it...if they actually let 9 other "family members" play any game for free indefinitely, that would deffo hurt their bottom line ( the game developers bottom line too of course ). No way that would ever happen.

Even with the limitations, the Family Sharing feature is still kind of cool - as a Demo tool it lets people get a real taste of a game for free, so that is kinda cool. Not as cool as first assumed, but still a worthwhile feature imho.

I hate how M$ in general promotes a new "feature" to the public, yet leaves out all the limitations on it that have to be unearthed later on by persistent journalists to shed light on the "truth" and show us the pros and CONS of said new "feature" as witnessed above. Marketing propaganda and corporate greed shall never die...

The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least. No good deed goes unpunished...